Infinite surface to infinity
Stand for the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in the ARCO International Contemporary Art Fair

REPORT
Stand for the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in the ARCO International Contemporary Art Fair

The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) deploys its activity in more than 30 countries through its Technical Cooperation Offices, Cultural Centres and Training Centres. These nodes serve as the bases from where to tackle globalisation by implementing various work programmes. In short, the AECID is a network, a matrix to connect and interact with various contexts of the world.

The AECID space in the ARCO 2018 International Contemporary Art Fair is another node in this network, so its stand in this edition of ARCO transcends its physical boundaries and becomes a link to other geographies, other cultures, other scales, other temporalities, other languages, other technologies. VAV is an infinite surface, an opening that connects the circuits of Contemporary Art and the cross-border matrix of the AECID. It is an effort to understand ARt and COoperation (AR-CO) from experience.

Visitors to the fair will discover that one of its main corridors has no end: eerie infinite depths framed by abstract geometries invite visitors into a new dimension. On the other side lies an indoor space, a quiet haven away from the bustle of the fair, with a series of images and videos floating on one of the walls. These videos and images are zooms into the network: a collection of snapshots of the various social, cultural and artistic activities that the AECID performs throughout the world. Little by little, the visitors’ eyes grow accustomed to the dimness and notice that the ceiling and walls fold upon themselves to frame the images and form a bench. After a rest, it is time to return to ‘the other dimension’ to proceed with the visit.

CREDITS
Architects elii – Uriel Fogué, Eva Gil, Carlos Palacios
Project-coordinating architects: elii – Ana López
Team: elii – Lucía Fernández  + Laura Barros + Telmo Sagartzazu
Assembly:  Scnik
Promoters: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo AECID en la Feria ARCO
Photography:  ImagenSubliminal (Miguel de Guzmán + Rocío Romero) www.imagensubliminal.com

BASIC DATA
Surface: 12.00 m2
Date: 2018
Location: Pabellón 7, Recinto Ferial IFEMA, Madrid

 

Architects: elii

eliimolinos
www.elii.es
info@elii.es
+34 911157658
c/ Maestro Arbós 3
28045 Madrid, SPAIN

elii carries out its professional activity in the following fields: Infrastructures, Urban Development, Public Spaces, Individual and Collective housing, Offices and Work Centres, Industrial Buildings, Ephemeral Architecture and Design of Museum Exhibitions and collaboration with artists. Elii covers all stages of the project, from the design phase to project management, working both in the public and private sectors, in Spain and Abroad. Founded in 2006 and based in the centre of Madrid, its founding partners and current directors are the architects Uriel Fogué Herreros, Eva Gil Lopesino and Carlos Palacios Rodriguez, all of whom have previously worked in architectural firms of international renown. They currently combine their work at elii with teaching (in several Spanish universities of international renown) and editorial work (UHF magazine). Their work and articles have appeared in specialized publications and exhibitions, having obtained recognition and awards for outstanding performance, amongst which are the FAD Opinion Award (2005), or the awards received from the Official College of Architects of Madrid “a la Obra Bien Hecha”(2006), “a la Obra de los Arquitectos” (2011), and “COAM Award” (2013) or the JustMad Award to Emergent Creativity (2013). They have been amongst those selected to appear in the “Arquia Próxima” catalogue (also issued by the Official College of Architects of Madrid) in its 2006-207, 2008-2009, 2010-2011 issues, having been recognized in this last one as one of the 10 most relevant teams of young architects in the region. They have also taken part in the “Madrid 100% Arquitectura II” (2011), catalogue and Itinerant International Exhibition, where one of their works was considered one of the top 100 by the Official College of Architects of Madrid. They were also similarly distinguished in the XII Buenos Aires International Biennial Architecture Exhibition (2011), recently selected as one of the “100 architects of the year 2012” in the exhibition for the KIA Korean Institute of Architects and the UIA International Union of Architects in Seoul (2012) and as a part of the exhibition FreshLatino 2 (2013). Elii is a member of the “Creadores de Madrid” and “FreshMadrid” archives.